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UNDERSTAND CONTRACTUAL, LEGAL AND ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS IN THE TELEVISION AND FILM INDUSTRIES GC3
22
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Page 1: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

UNDERSTAND CONTRACTUAL,

LEGAL AND ETHICAL

OBLIGATIONS IN THE TELEVISION

AND FILM INDUSTRIES

GC3

Page 2: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

OVERVIEW

You need to consider whether or not there could be any legal,

contractual or ethical issues as a result of your production.

If a company fails to follow good practice, the law could be

broken and that company might end up in a tribunal or even

court.

Producers, their crew and even learners and people on work

experience need to be aware of various contractual, legal and

ethical obligations.

Page 3: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

CONTRACTS

Contracts are legal agreements that relate to your

own terms of employment.

If you are offered any contract, read it carefully. You

need to be clear about:

• What you are being asked to do

• When you will be required to work

• What payment you will receive.

Page 4: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

CONTRACTS

A contract of employment will typically have ‘small

print’. You will need to scrutinise any clauses (short

paragraphs) to check you understand the

implications of what you are signing.

• Confidentiality clauses and exclusivity

clauses are common in film and television

industry contracts. Find out what these mean.

Page 5: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION

The Equality Act

Discrimination on grounds of race, gender or age is

illegal. This is likely to be a consideration when

employing staff, cast and crew and when

individuals, groups and related issues

are depicted on screen.

BBC’s Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly was awarded £150K after being sacked for 'too old'

Page 6: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION

The Equality Act 2010 replaced:

• Equal Pay Act 1970

• Sex Discrimination Act 1975

• Race Relations Act 1976

• Disability Discrimination Act 1995

• Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003

• Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations

2003[5]

• Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.

Page 7: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION

Equal Opportunities

Equal opportunities employers aim to recruit fairly

and they produce codes of practice that evidence

that they comply with The Equality Act.

Page 8: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION

Employers and Employees

Employers are responsible for the safety and

wellbeing of their employees.

They are liable for any physical or emotional harm

as well as any employee acts or omissions whilst

in their employment.

Page 9: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATIONHealth and Safety

Employers are responsible for the health and safety of their

employees while they are at work. Employees may be injured at

work or they, or former employees, may become ill as a result of

their work while in your employment.

They can claim compensation if they believe the employer is

responsible.

The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 ensures

a minimum level of insurance cover against any such claims.

Page 10: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION

Trade Unions

As you know from unit 1, trade unions exist to

protect the rights and interests of workers. You

have to be a member of a union to get those

benefits so members pay yearly fees. BECTU’s

freelance membership cost is currently £120.

Page 11: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

ETHICAL ISSUES

Codes of practice are not part of the law. They exist usually to

protect the consumer or the citizen and have a powerful role in

television and film.

Employers are responsible for drawing up policies,

procedures and codes of practice that are specific to

individual institutions.

CoP are designed to promote good practice and to avoid legal

issues ‘down the line’.

Page 12: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

ETHICAL ISSUES

Representation

The way in which people, places and events are

represented in media can be problematic. As you know

from the factual programming unit, audience opinion on

certain topics is easily manipulated depending on the way

the media portrays it.

Think about Amy Winehouse and the fluctuating press

she got.

Page 13: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

ETHICAL ISSUES

Social Concerns

Through media representation, audiences can favour or

reject a person, group of people, place, event, etc.

Some have argued that the media can create, or

exacerbate social problems.

Think about the way you as youths

are represented by the media;

how do you think older generations

view you?

Page 14: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

LEGAL ISSUESRegulators

A regulatory body exists to create and enforce rules based on law.

Their main aims are to protect viewers and promote healthy competition

between organisations.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

The BBC had its own Code of Practice, and, as you know, also issues its own

production guidelines for the programmes it commissions.

Page 15: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

LEGAL ISSUES

The Office of Communications (Ofcom)

Ofcom is Britain’s media regulator and is required by

The Communications Act (2003) and The Broadcasting

Act (1990) to draw up a code that they then enforce.

Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code sets standards for

British broadcasting.

Page 16: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

LEGAL ISSUES

• Protecting the Under-Eighteens

• Harm and Offence

• Crime

• Religion

• Due Impartiality and Due Accuracy

and Undue Prominence of Views and

Opinions

• Elections and Referendums

• Fairness

• Privacy

• Commercial References in Television

Programming

• Commercial Communications in

Radio Programming

The Ofcom Broadcasting Code

The Ofcom Broadcasting Code is made up of 10 main sections:

Look specifically at the underlined sections when completing the final task.

Page 17: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

LEGAL ISSUES

Obscenity

Lawyers may be needed to check whether a production

infringes The Obscene Publications Act (1959).

Factors such as the age range of the audience and the

time a production is broadcast can affect whether or not

the material is deemed obscene. The American version of Skins was

criticised in America for being obscene. The first US series opened with scenes of nudity in which the actors were under 21.

Page 18: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

LEGAL ISSUES

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)

The BBFC is an independent body which classifies

films and videos in terms of age suitability.

Go to the website and look at the criteria they use to

judge boundaries for certification.

Page 19: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

LEGAL ISSUES

Intellectual Property (IP)

IP results from the expression of an idea; it might be a brand, an

invention, a design, a song or another intellectual creation. IP

can be owned, bought and sold.

Intellectual Property lets people own the work they create.

The internet has made intellectual property (IP) a huge issue,

for example, the unauthorised use of copyright material on

YouTube and illegal video downloads.

Page 20: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

LEGAL ISSUES

Copyright

Copyright protects written, theatrical, musical and

artistic works as well as film, book layouts, sound

recordings, and broadcasts.

Copyright protects a piece of written or recorded

work from being copied or used by anyone else

without the copyright owner’s permission.

Page 21: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

LEGAL ISSUES

When you plan and produce a media product, you

must comply with copyright law. By using your own

or copyright-free material or by clearing and paying

for rights to use copyright material, you are not at

risk of infringement.

Failure to seek permission can (and usually does)

result in legal dispute.

Page 22: Contractual legal and ethical considerations

ACTIVITY: GC3

Task: Read the attached job advertisement.

Do you think it is appropriate?

Write a letter in response to the job advert, be sure

to point out any areas which contradict contractual,

ethical and legal issues that we have just looked at.